Peterborough United chairman Darragh MacAnthony has reiterated his stance that there was no wrongdoing in the club’s pursuit of Robbie Savage following continued comments from his counterpart at Forest Green Rovers.
Savage was handed the reins at the League One club earlier this month after an agreement was reached with Forest Green over his departure. The 51-year-old emerged as a shock contender for the role following the exit of Luke Williams, who was dismissed after a 2-0 against Doncaster Rovers left Posh languishing in the relegation zone.
The new manager has enjoyed an excellent start thus far, first recording an emphatic 4-1 win over Ipswich Town under-21s in the EFL Trophy before following that with a 3-1 triumph at Leicester City last weekend. However, this has been somewhat overshadowed by the comments of Dale Vince, the owner of Savage’s previous employers.
What Did Vince Say?
Speaking to BBC Radio Gloucestershire last week, Vince was frank of his assessment of the situation. He accused Peterborough of making an illegal approach, saying:
“Robbie came to see me very upset and said he had intense personal issues that required him to go looking for another job at Peterborough. He’s a friend and it was very hard to say no, so I said fine, go and talk to them.
“Peterborough themselves have covered themselves in no glory here. They came to us and said we would like to speak to your manager. We said no and so they spoke to him and then he came to us and said I hear Peterborough want to speak to me. So, that’s an illegal approach.”
This prompted a response from MacAnthony, who vehemently denied the claims, although Vince doubled down. Taking to X, the businessman said:
“Darragh MacAnthony either is not telling the truth here or he doesn’t know what’s happening at his own club.
“Because absolutely, we refused permission to speak, and contact was made in any event, which caused this whole thing to come to a head.
“So the rules were broken. That’s a fact.”
.@DMAC102 Darragh MacAnthony either is not telling the truth here or he doesn’t know what’s happening at his own club.
Because absolutely, we refused permission to speak, and contact was made in any event, which caused this whole thing to come to a head.
So the rules were… https://t.co/NJEUOpFcAY
— Dale Vince (@DaleVince) October 12, 2026
The public spat continued, with MacAnthony once again defending his corner, most recently on the latest episode of The Hard Truth Podcast:
“We did nothing nefarious at all in the way we appointed Robbie. We have the emails. We respected the process and didn’t say anything publicly while Dale gave a running commentary including giving us permission to speak to Robbie.
“My advice to him now is to stop and move on. It’s never a good idea to fall out with other club owners as you will inevitably have to deal with them. I have respect for anyone who puts money into football and who pays their bills on time. I wish him and his club all the best.”
MacAnthony Makes Forest Green Suggestion
Now effectively managerless, Forest Green have taken the unusual decision to allow coaches Jonathan Gould, Yan Klukowski, and Josh Bowen to jointly lead the team and ‘see how it goes’. However, MacAnthony has suggested they should take a punt on his own ex-manager Luke Williams.
Although he is no longer in the dugout, the former Swansea City boss is still on the payroll until he finds another position. Continuing, he said:
“And I hope they hire Luke. I’m not saying that because it helps us financially as I honestly believe he would get them promoted. Knowing Dale though he’ll probably now go a different way.”
Despite that, Vince is refusing to backdown, talking to talkSPORT earlier today to double down on his initial suggestions in what is a must-watch discussion with Jim White and Simon Jordan.
